Public health measures to control COVID-19, including social distancing, masks, border closures and reduced international travel, have worked to reduce the impact of COVID-19.

But they’ve also led to a reduction, or changed the pattern, of other respiratory infections such as influenza, whooping cough and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

A Productivity Commission report released last month showed whooping cough rates in 2020–21 were the lowest they’d been in years.

Australia also didn’t experience much of a flu season in 2020 or 2021. This is good news as we didn’t want to have both flu and COVID-19 circulating in high numbers.